There are moves afoot to defy Donald Trump before he is even President. Trump promised to deport 2-3 million criminal aliens but Democratic and Republican members of the Senate Judiciary Committee are working on legislation that would limit deportations if Trump repeals President Obama’s executive orders on illegal immigration.
Senate Democratic Whip Dick Durbin (Ill.) and Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.), both members of the panel, are crafting a bill to shield children living in the country illegally from being deported if they grew up in the United States and have stayed out of trouble.
The Hill reports,
The bill is likely to have the support of another Republican on the committee, Sen. Jeff Flake (Ariz.). He was a member of the so-called Gang of Eight that put together the comprehensive immigration reform bill that passed the Senate in 2013.
Trump has vowed to repeal Obama’s executive orders that halted deportations for people who came to the country illegally at a young age, as well as deportations of the parents of citizens and lawful permanent residents.
Lawmakers are worried that rescinding those orders would pull the rug out from hundreds of thousands of young people whose parents immigrated to the country illegally. Many of them may have to drop out of school, lose their jobs or face deportation.
Durbin and Graham say they are especially vulnerable because they applied to the government for protection under Obama’s executive order, known as Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA).
They are discussing legislation that would give these immigrants temporary protection from deportation or loss of academic and job opportunities until Congress passes more comprehensive legislation addressing the status of undocumented residents.
“Sen. Graham and I discussed it again this morning and we hope to even have this bill ready before we leave next week, a bipartisan effort to say to the new president, ‘give these young people a fighting chance,’ ” Durbin said on the Senate floor.
Graham says he’s trying to avoid the potential chaos of hundreds of thousands of residents having their lives disrupted.
“You can’t blame these kids for coming here, you can’t blame these kids for coming out of the shadows. They’re out of the shadows and now we know who they are. If we cancel the executive order, what happens to them? We deport them all?” Graham said.
Read the full story at The Hill
